September 5, 2003

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Action Alert:
Congress is Back!

Congress has returned from recess and is likely (albeit not certain) to act on Child Nutrition Reauthorization prior to its adjournment for the year, which may occur as early as mid-October. So the next several weeks are the critical time to influence Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Please contact your members of Congress with the message to enact positive improvements and do no harm to the Child Nutrition programs.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Cochran (R-MS) are expected to introduce their Child Nutrition bills (called "Chairman's marks") very soon. House hearings on Child Nutrition programs that were originally scheduled for September have been postponed and are likely to occur in early October.

FRAC has two new tools to support your efforts to ensure a positive Child Nutrition Reauthorization:

• FRAC's updated short list of top prioritiesfor Child Nutrition Reauthorization
  
  
• A new study finding that participation in federal nutrition programs reduces the risk of overweight among food insecure girls:
  

See also our analysis of the alleged "overcertification" problem in school lunch with evidence of the damage that increased paperwork and verification can do

Actions to Take:

1. Call your Senators and Representative with the message to enact positive improvements and do no harm to the Child Nutrition Programs (ask to speak to their Child Nutrition staffers).
   
   
   • Senators from AR, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, SD and VT are on the Agriculture Committee. Click here for information about their Child Nutrition staffers. If your Senators are from another state, urge them to weigh in with Agriculture Committee members with the same message. You can find their child nutrition staffers also by clicking above.
     
     
   • Contact your Representative with the same message. If your Representative is on the committee, you can find contact information for his or her Child Nutrition staffer
     here. If they are not on the committee,
     
     
2. Send your Senators and Representative an e-mail on Child Nutrition Reauthorization from the FRAC website.
   
   
3. Encourage your networks and community to call and e-mail their members of Congress about Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Forward this alert to them. Make sure the local teachers union, the dietetic association, school food service association, afterschool and child care providers and other concerned groups are aware of and involved in the process. Encourage them to call and to send the letter from the FRAC website to their members of Congress.

Factsheets on Child Nutrition Programs School Breakfast  |  School Lunch  |  Afterschool  |  Summer Food Women, Infants, and Children  |  Child and Adult Care Food Program

Prepared by the Food Research & Action Center, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org